WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

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FINANCIAL TIMES

JPMORGAN PUSHES ON WITH TALKS OVER BRAZILIAN HEDGE FUNDJPMorgan Chase is pushing ahead with talks to buy a large Brazilian hedge fund and private equity group, in spite of impending US legislation designed to limit the involvement of commercial banks in such activities.

People close to the situation said the US financial group was in advanced discussions to buy Gávea Investimentos, an asset management company that manages about $5.3bn (£3.6bn) in assets.

F&C IN HEDGE FUND LEGAL BATTLE
Asset management company F&C is embroiled in a High Court battle with two hedge fund managers over whether it was valid for the men to exercise a series of “put options” last year. The case, which begins this week, centres on a limited liability partnership set up in 2004.

AMAZON HAS DESIGNS ON FASHION
Amazon, the largest online retailer, is relaunching its online clothing and shoe business with a focus on high-end style as it vies with rivals such as Yoox and Net-A-Porter in the expanding online fashion market. US online sales of clothing, shoes and accessories increased 17 per cent last year to $27bn, according to Forrester Research. Amazon is recruiting software engineers who it says will build “great new feautures that change the way people shop for clothing”.

FEAR OVER DEARTH OF ENGINEERS IN EUROPE
Europe needs to take urgent action on skills and education to encourage young peeople to become engineers or risk losing out to China and India as a manufacturing power, according to the continent’s leading industrialists. Chief executives and chairmen from Europe’s 50 biggest countries list the growing skills shortage as one of their biggest long-term concerns.

theguardian

MANUFACTURERS SLAM GOVERNMENT CLIMATE CHANGE BILL
Britain's manufacturers have condemned the government's climate change policy as "chaotic, overcrowded and complicated" and are calling on George Osborne to use his emergency budget to introduce an economy-wide carbon tax. The manufacturers' organisation EEF says a new single levy based on energy usage to replace the existing mix of climate measures would simplify the system.

TUC CRITICISES CBI LABOUR IDEAS
The TUC has condemned new proposals from the business lobby group CBI to make it harder for workers to strike as “a charter for exploitation at work”. In a new report today, the CBI will call for a variety of labour market measures it says will bolster businesses during the recovery.

The Daily Telegraph

MILLIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR TO PAY MORE FOR PENSIONS
Public sector workers will be expected to pay hundreds or even thousands of pounds more each year into their pension pots, as the era of early retirement on generous payments is brought to an end. A new government commission, led by John Hutton, could recommend that public sector staff begin paying more towards their retirement as early as next spring.

RAHM EMMANUEL TO QUIT AS WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF
Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, is expected to leave his job later this year after growing tired of the "idealism" of Barack Obama's inner circle. Washington insiders say he will quit within six to eight months in frustration at their unwillingness to "bang heads together" to get policy pushed through.

WALL STREET JOURNAL

FRANCE TELECOM MOVES CLOSER TO LE MONDE BID
France Télécom was yesterday planning to bid as much as €60m (£50.2m) for French daily Le Monde and its website, according to a spokeswoman for the telecommunications group. France Télécom has formed a consortium with two other companies to try to buy a majority stake in Le Monde, the struggling newspaper’s publishing company.

CITI MOVING PRIVATE-EQUITY VETERAN TO ASIA
Citigroup said it is moving veteran private-equity banker Chris Laskowski back to Asia to join senior management, a signal the US bank believes a pickup in the region’s buyout activity will likely continue. Mr. Laskowski will head a team of bankers dedicated to servicing buyout firms around the region.